Miramar Marines invite SD to air show

Aircraft noise and road closures in runup to opening day Friday

Sean Tucker cruises just feet from the ground in his Oracle Challenger impressing the Miramar Air Show crowd at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Oct. 1, 2011. Tucker has more than 20,000 flight hours and was named one of 25 "Living Legends of Flight" by the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in 2003.
— USMC/Gunnery Sgt. Steven Williams

Sean Tucker cruises just feet from the ground in his Oracle Challenger impressing the Miramar Air Show crowd at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Oct. 1, 2011. Tucker has more than 20,000 flight hours and was named one of 25 "Living Legends of Flight" by the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in 2003.
/ USMC/Gunnery Sgt. Steven Williams

San Diegans may notice a louder or more persistent scream of fighter jets racing over Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Thursday as the Blue Angels rehearse for the air show opening this weekend.

Traffic may also be a problem when Kearny Villa Road closes for the flight demonstration team's practice from about noon to 5 p.m., the Marine Corps announced.

Your consolation prize for the temporary increase in aircraft noise and gridlock? The largest military air show in the country, a three-day event that begins Friday and is expected to draw more than 500,000 spectators.

San Diego is officially invited to attend, said the commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Miramar, Maj. Gen. (select) Steven Busby, and the commanding officer of the air station, Col. J. P. Farnam.

Besides the Blue Angels, notable acts include the Marine Air Ground Task Force demonstration and a solo by the tilt-rotor hybrid MV-22 Osprey, the F-22 Raptor and a Saturday twilight show appearance by the fire breathing Robosaurus dinosaur robot.

Special guests include retired Marine Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden Jr., a former air wing commander now the head of NASA, and Maj. Gen. Gregg Sturdevant, commanding general of the Marine air wing serving in Afghanistan.